Installing Ubuntu on a Windows Multiboot USB NVMe Drive with Ventoy

Why Add Ubuntu to a Multiboot USB NVMe Drive?

Having Ubuntu alongside Windows on a multiboot NVMe setup gives you flexibility, portability, and a richer lab toolkit—all on one drive. You can carry both a desktop environment for daily tasks and reserve space for a server OS without needing multiple drives.

What You’ll Need

An NVMe USB drive already set up for Windows multiboot
A Ventoy bootable USB stick
Ubuntu Desktop ISO
A Windows machine with Disk Management tools

Step 1 – Download Ubuntu ISO & Copy to Ventoy

Visit the Ubuntu website and download the latest Ubuntu Desktop ISO.
Insert your Ventoy USB stick.
Copy the ISO file into the ISO folder on the Ventoy stick.

💡 Tip: Name your ISO clearly, e.g. ubuntu-desktop.iso, so when you boot via Ventoy it’s easy to identify.

Step 2 – Free Up Space on the NVMe Drive

You’ll need to make room for Ubuntu Desktop and optionally Ubuntu Server. In my example:

48 GB → Ubuntu Desktop installation
32 GB → Reserved for Ubuntu Server later

If your NVMe drive is larger than 256 GB, feel free to allocate more based on how you’ll use each OS (e.g. apps, services, development work).

Step 3 – Shrink Partition Using Windows Disk Management

Boot into Windows from the multiboot NVMe drive.
Open Disk Management (Right-click Start → Disk Management).
Locate the NVMe drive and the largest partition (double-check if you have similar-sized drives).
Right-click that partition → Shrink Volume.
Enter the amount to shrink. In my case I chose 80 GB (~ 81920 MB), which gives 48GB + 32GB for the two Linux installs.
Click Shrink.

⚠️ If you can’t shrink by enough, try defragmenting the drive or moving large files off to make contiguous space.

Step 4 – Boot from Ventoy & Install Ubuntu Desktop

Reboot your computer.
Enter the boot menu (often via F12, Esc, or a dedicated key).
Select your Ventoy USB stick as the boot device.
From Ventoy’s menu, pick the Ubuntu ISO you copied earlier.
When installing, choose the 48 GB free partition you created for Ubuntu Desktop.

Later, you can use the reserved 32 GB space to install Ubuntu Server (I’ll cover that in a follow-up guide).

Tips & Common Pitfalls

Double check that you’re shrinking the correct partition (especially if drives are similar size).
Back up your data before resizing partitions.
If Windows won’t shrink enough, defragment or clear file fragmentation.
Plan ahead: allocate more space if Ubuntu will host many apps; server use depends on what services you’ll run.

Summary

Using Ventoy with a multiboot NVMe USB gives you a powerful, flexible portable lab. With just a few steps you can install Ubuntu alongside Windows, dual-boot, and manage your system efficiently.

Want to follow along when we install Ubuntu Server next, and tweak boot settings? That guide is coming soon.

Final Thoughts

Would you use both Ubuntu Desktop and Server on the same drive, or only one? Drop your thoughts in the comments below ⬇️